Hello Moviefans!
This is my entry into the CineTV contest 27, Favorite Movie Score or Soundtrack. Link is here.
Name - The Last of the Mohicans
Released - 1992
Director - Michael Mann
What a tough one this week, there are so many good films with amazing soundtracks or scores, trying to narrow it down to my favorite one is difficult. I'm sure there are more but these are some that came to mind.
The first contender was Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. This was Tina Turner at her best and her song with Mel Gibson really made the film and helped keep it in our memories for a long time. However, I think there were stronger candidates.
In a very difficult third place is Del Se Re, a classic Bollywood film starring Bollywood's top boy Shah Ruk Khan. You couldn't have the best movie score or soundtrack without including A.R.Rahman. In this film, he has made a few of the songs that really made the film a success. However, combined with the amazing cinematography and song Jiya Jale Jaan Jale during the wedding scene really cap off an amazing film and cinema-going experience if you were lucky to catch it in the cinema.
The song is really great and combines with the impressive dancing scenes from a traditional Kerala, which is in the south of India and famous for its river boats. A very young Shah Ru Khan brings the film with its songs to life and this is standard-fare pretty much in a good Bollywood film. The music and dancing should immerse you into the film and escape from your reality. This film has a worthy soundtrack and deserves to win really, but doesn't today so that I can write further about it another day!
The second runner-up and also worthy winner is Inception. This is what we could call an almost cult-like score by Hans Zimmer which in the film sucked you into the huge possibilities of time and reality being questioned by the film. If I took anything away from the film it is this score and how deeply touching it is and could bring out some emotion even from those who have it hidden deep. His other masterpiece "Now we are free" from Gladiator is another that fits well into this category.
But today's winner is the Last of the Mohicans. The reason is because of the great story and acting with the awesome Daniel Day-Lewis. He was on fire in the '90s (yes 30 years ago) and also starred in the film "In the name of the Father" in which Sinead O' Conner sang the not so well-known as her main breakthrough hit song, but a far better song if you ask me "You made me the thief of your heart".
The film is a cinematic masterpiece with some great historical scenes where you can see the fancy costumes of the former British and French armies being very grandiose but with an element of vulnerability. There is also a great deal to think about the changing landscape of America at the time and the disaster faced by the Indian peoples facing this invasion.
At the heart of the film though is the thought of the last ever Mohicans and how they have fallen deeply in love and this love cannot be broken. This is masterfully done with the amazing soundtrack called "The Gael" by the Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean. Here you can see him performing live:
The cinematic climax of the film with the build-up using this fiddle song really intensifies the atmosphere and immerses you in this reality and I'm sure even brought a few people to tears. I think this has been hard to match in many films and for the score to play such a central role is not so common.
It is the winner for me with the unique gaelic sound that is instantly recognisable with the film, combined with the theme of love.
Thanks for reading.
► Trailer:
Credits:
The title image was created by myself in Canva.
The Youtube video link for the song is a direct link to the copyright holder's youtube page source.
The link to the movie trailer is a direct link to the copyright holder's released trailer from their official website source & source.
Used under fair-use section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976.
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